Thinkpads Forum

I fix computers and laptops for my friends, and consider myself a skilled amateur when it comes to fixing computer problems. I recently bought a used t400 (2767 wd3) that works great except that it takes about 2 minutes from the time I push the power button before windows (7 Ultimate 64-bit) starts to load. Is that normal for thinkpads? I've worked on dozens of laptops but this is the first thinkpad I've ever owned or used and I've never seen a computer that takes so long to show the POST screen. At first I thought it might just be a BIOS issue, so I reset the BIOS settings to factory default, which made no difference. Now I'm stumped.

Except for upgrading the original HDD with a 500 GB HDD and replacing one of the 2GB DIMMS with 4 GB, nothing else has been changed in the hardware. Any ideas?

The HDD ?

there's nothing wrong with the HDD. I tried it in another laptop and windows 7 starts in less than 30 seconds

Welcome to thinkpads.com!

Please confirm... exactly how much memory is installed in the system (the number of modules and their capacity)?

You could start diagnosis by removing ALL hardware which is not essential to boot the system. Basically this means everything except for one memory module of the smallest capacity you have; hard drive, optical drive, wireless card(s), bluetooth, whatever else is socketed, needs to be taken out. If that results in a "normal" speed boot, then power off and start replacing the components one-at-a-time. When you get to the point where the boot time has significantly increased, the last part you re-installed is causing the problem. Since you have verified that the HD appears to boot fine in another system, I'd save that one for last. You should also double-check to see that the BIOS has disabled any "extended memory test" as that can slow the boot process. However, that usually means that the "splash screen" is displayed for a longer amount of time prior to seeing Windows starting up.

Thanks for the advice.. as far as memory, Slot 0 has a 4Gb DDR3 DIMM installed as recommended by crucial.com. Slot 1 has the original 2Gb DDR3 DIMM from the factory. tried everything you suggested.. with everything except the HDD disconnected, boot time was about 40 seconds. Startup time got a little slower with each and every component I reconnected. I was almost ready to assume I had a laptop with a bunch of defective parts, but I went back into the bios and double checked all the settings. Turns out that for some reason the internal HDD wasn't listed in the boot order until #4 priority under the network boot options. reset the boot order so the internal hdd 0 is 1st on the list.. problem solved. thanks again for the help.

On a related note, I always go into the BIOS, and disabled everything in the boot order, except the HDD I want to boot from. If I know I'll boot from something else, it's just a quick trip back in to enable that particular component.

It may not always speed things up, but it sure can slow the boot down if it's not correct.

That's a strange event... thanks for sharing your solution!

I typically force the HDD to be first and enable the rest like USB, Optical, and Network - but lock the bios with an admin password so that if someone tried to bypass my boot order with a F12 during post. I know it won't prevent someone from yanking out the hard drive, but the boot password will .